Thai Adventures

One of my favorite restaurants from back home is Araya's Vegetarian - a Thai restaurant that I have been going to since I was in high school. It's all vegan and all delicious - especially their lunch buffet! For years I went weekly to catch up with a friend and stuff as much food as possible into our bellies (I really miss those days when my metabolism was my friend!).

I bought a vegetarian Thai cookbook when Jonathan and I were in Phuket last October, but I've found the recipes to be a little too vague and perhaps advanced for me - perhaps I need to just give it a better try, but I think the translation to English didn't work out that well for them.

If it wasn't lunch buffet time at Araya's my favorite dish was the Orange Tofu. I was exploring different food blogs this weekend and came across a recipe for Orange Pan Glazed Tempeh (ok I know this is the same website that the Ravioli Salad came from, but at least it's not my usual!). It reminded me so much of that dish at Araya's that I had to give it a try. The verdict? The sauce had the perfect flavor, but I didn't think there was enough leftover once it had reduced to a glaze - it left the rice a bit dry. I also think I should have marinated the tofu and then dried it out so the flavor was throughout - I always struggle with that with tofu, lots of flavor on the outside and none inside.

Thinking of this Orange Tofu (I used tofu instead of tempeh - forgot to mention that, but it was probably clear from the picture) made me think of the dessert that Araya's always had as part of the buffet - Black Sticky Rice with Coconut Milk! I had never tried making it before, but figured it couldn't be that tough - luckily I was right! Here it is - simply Forbidden rice (black sticky rice) cooked with coconut milk, palm sugar, and a little cinnamon topped with a little of the remaining coconut milk!

Up next: the most Oregonian thing I have done since living in Oregon!

-C